Will We Slow Down Enough to Feel?

I saw a commerical on TV a couple weeks back that caught my attention. it was for Downy fabric softener. It showed several scenes in which people were in a hurry, made a quick connection, and then left.

The tagline for the commercial was "Does rushing to do more cause us to feel less?" Their point was that the great smell of Downy would keep people around each other longer.

Ok, yes, I know, I don't buy it either. There is, however, a very real truth to their premise. We live our lives in such a way that we do rush, rush, rush, all the time. In doing so, we probably do feel less. We stay busy to keep us from feeling pain, hurt, fear, loss, happiness, sadness, almost as if we can't stand the thought of being with ourselves because we would need to come face to face with what lies inside, our uncertainty, our insecurities. At the same time, staying busy is also a great way to avoid Gos speaking to us as well.

The Psalmist wrote "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10a, NIV). The Scripture also speaks about how deceptive the heart can be. Staying busy keeps us from confronting God and the issues of the heart, and keeps us from intimacy with God and others. That type of intimacy can be very scary.

How great it would be if we were rushing to do less so we could feel more…more of the joy that Jesus died to give us.